Tom Neenan: It's Always Infinity

• Craig Angus
• 17 August 2018

This article is from 2018

A sharp hour about male flaws and multimedia gags

Tom Neenan's girlfriend has gone missing, making this the perfect opportunity for an hour about … Tom Neenan. It's Always Infinity is a razor-sharp hour of character comedy that brilliantly parodies the actions of 'male feminists' too preoccupied with bragging about their own perceived wokeness to listen to anyone else.

Neenan's journey to find Hannah (portrayed by Rachel Parris) is ostensibly a vehicle for him to exercise his messiah complex and air some grievances about her ex-boyfriend, her friends and family members. He makes a great fuss of passing the Bechdel test, while his multimedia dalliances provide ample ammunition for jokes. His word searches are great; but his word searches for the blind are even better.

There's no doubting the quality of his writing (Neenan lends his scripting gifts to The Mash Report, The Last Leg and The News Quiz) but the repetitive nature of his character's delivery starts to grind in the final third, with one gag laboured to its outer limits. Despite that, Tom Neenan's latest show brings a steady stream of funny gags in a cutting satire about white men who can't bear to be anything but the centre of attention. He makes a great narcissist.

Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 Aug, 3.45pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).